Saturday night, famed guitarist and country singer Marty Stuart will play a small, sold-out show at LeMoyne College. The concert is the latest segment in a rapidly expanding music program at the college that's exploded in popularity and offerings over the past few years.

Spearheading the growth of the music department at LeMoyne are Travis Newton, director of music & arts administration, and Jocelyn Rauch, assistant director of music.

"Our mission is to serve the students, and they deserve a holistic education," Newton said. "Part of that is keeping music alive here."

LeMoyne began its music minor program in 2004. Prior to that, several musical ensembles had been treated as extracurricular clubs.

Music at LeMoyne -- the live performance program -- is now in its fourth year of bringing in guest artists for students and the community. In addition to Stuart's performance Saturday, this year's lineup featured jazz singer Jane Monheit and will highlight the music of LeMoyne professor Edward Ruchalski. In 2010, the music series brought in Roseanne Cash, daughter of Johnny Cash.

Michael Streissguth, a professor in the communications department, has provided a huge boost to the program as well. Streissguth was instrumental in wrangling Stuart this year and Cash in 2010. The LeMoyne professor has written several books about Johnny Cash and, in doing so, developed ties with those close to him.

Stuart is a five-time Grammy winner who toured extensively with Johnny Cash in the 1980s and has shared the stage with the likes of Lester Flatt and Travis Tritt. He'll play Saturday night at the Coyne Center for Performing Arts at LeMoyne with his band the Fabulous Superlatives. The show is sold out.

"The whole band is really great," Streissguth said. "And Marty is sort of a Renaissance Man when it comes to music."

In addition to the performance series LeMoyne has been actively building its academic offerings as well. The school has no music major, but offers a 15-credit minor.

"It's interdisciplinary," Newton said. "We want students to be able to study more than just core subjects."

Over the past three years, the music minor has grown more than 300 percent. There are currently more than 150 students enrolled in music classes. The music minor -- within the department of visual and performing arts -- houses several performance ensembles as well, including a chamber orchestra directed by Newton and several vocal group directed by Rauch and others.

Luke Baker, a 2012 graduate, enrolled at LeMoyne right around the time the program was beginning to take shape. During his sophomore year he helped found a student-run a capella group called Fermata Nowhere.

"LeMoyne's a small college and the group started out small," he said. "We didn't have a place to rehearse at first, we just wandered around campus. [Newton and Rauch] helped get us started."

Just as Newton and Rauch intended, the program proved a creative outlet for students like Baker. He graduated with a bachelors degree in communications and a minor in music. He now lives in New York City and works as a production assistant for a health and wellness website.

"A LeMoyne education is about being a whole person," Baker said. "Without music and group work like we had, you're missing a big piece of that."

Baker said he never planned to study music, but ended up earning a minor after discovering he enjoyed it at LeMoyne.

Classes taught in the music minor include music theory, one-on-one lessons, music history and even a class called Neurons and Notes - The Science of Music. Among the faculty are several local musicians and educators, including Edward Ruchalski and rocker Todd Hobin.

"It's a chance to watch these kids grow," Hobin said during an interview last month. "They want to learn about rock 'n roll. How cool that I get to teach them."